This invention relates to the two-way communication of information, a “posting”, from a source agent to a target user community via a computer server connected to a wide-area network such as the Internet. In particular, the target user community for a posting is defined in terms of geographical coordinates, e.g., by a bounded region on a map. Targeted users, i.e., those whose geographical location falls within the bounded region of a posting, receive notification of the posting either automatically via email, or by logging on to the server and browsing for geographically relevant notifications via a user interface.
The system described herein is intended to service mobile users as well as stationary users. Mobile users who pass through the targeted area of various postings can automatically receive those postings via their wireless connection as they travel, resulting in information automatically flowing to them at the posted information's point of relevance.
Related Art
At least three areas of technology are relevant to the present invention:
geographical product and services databases; one-way communication of information to its “point of relevance”; and communication of information via the Internet. However, the invention's overall purpose, methods, and implementation differ substantially from all known disclosures. Specifically, there is no known literature describing a communication system that targets unsolicited information to an anonymous user community identified only by a bounded region on a map.